Registering apparatus for plate-printing presses



(No Model.)

J. CARSON. Registering Apparatus for Plate 'Printing Presses. No.

Patented May 3,1881.

(Ct/14m 74 i mas.

\ UNITED S E PATENT OFF CE,

JOHN cARsoN, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

REGISTERING APPAI QAT US FOR PLATE-PRINTING PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming art of Letters Patent No. 240, 85, dated May 3, 1881.

Application filed august 9, 1880. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that I JOHN CARSON, of Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Registering Apparatus for Plate-Printing Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to facilitate printing from engraved plates, and improve the registration of such work by providing a guide or registering attachment for plate-print ing presses; anditconsists of adjustable fingers carried on a shaft fitted in bearin gs on the front end of the plate-block or raised portion of the bed on which the engraved plate is secured, the endsof said fingers bearing on the plate to act as guides, against which two edges of the sheets of paper to receive the impression i are fed. The said edges are the top and the left-handside edges, which are the same edges of the sheet of paper used to register byin the ordinary reciprocating platen printing-press; and as myimproved guide-fingers on the platepress can be adjusted so that the two edges of the sheet of paper come in contact with them at the exact parts that come in contact with the guide= stops of the reciprocating platenpress, aperfect interchan geableregister on the two classes of presses is obtained, thus enablin g some of the impressions to be made on the reciprocating platen press-as, for instance, the various colors of the designs-and some on the p1ate-press,from the engraved plate which impression of impressions would genq ally em brace the outline and finishing characteristics of the-design: The-guider-fingers are so con structed and arranged that as soon as the rear endof the sheet of paperis griped between the impression-cylinder or D-cylinder and the plate sufficiently toprevent the pa'perchan gin g its position on the plate while the impressionis being taken, the guide-fingers are thrown off the plate over onto the frontend of the bed-by means of a crank-pin securedto oneeud of the shaft carrying the fingers coming in contact with anarin fixed to'the side frame of the press, leaving the engraved platewith the paperfree to pass under the D-eylind er, said fingers remaining off the plate untilthe impression is taken and the bed and the plate have moved back into their original position." The'printed sheet is then removed from the plate, a fresh supply tachmen t.

of ink applied thereto, and the plate wiped off and polished in the ordinary manner, ready for another impression to be taken. Thefingers are now moved over onto the plate so as to assume the registering position they before occupied by turning the crank-pin on the end of the shaft by hand, and a fresh sheet fed against the guide-fingers. A perfect register of all the sheets of paper and a considerable saving of time over the old method of adjusting the sheet on the plate by eye are had by this application of guides to plate-presses. The fingers are held in both their positions by means of suitable springs, all of which will be readily and fully understood by the following description of the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a plan view of a plate-printii'lg press with my improved registeringguide at- Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with the near-side frame removed and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the bed, showing the device for retaining the fingers in both of the positions assumed by them.

The plate-press shown in the drawings is constructed in the ordinary manner, and consists of the impression or D cylinder at, the bed b,

with the raised portion or plate-block c, supporting-rollers d d, and bearing-cylinder c, between which and the D-cylindcr a the bed, with the engraved plate f, attached to the plate-block c or raised portion of the bed,is pressed when the impression cylinder at is caused to rotate by operating the hand-Wheel or radial arms g, secured to one end of the shaft of the cylinder and shown broken away in the drawings. The cylinders a and e and rollers 01 d are supported in the frame it. When the' cylindrical portion of the D-cylinder has passed over the plate f its flat portion comes opposite the bed and allows the bed to be moved back into its original or starting position. by means of springs or a weight. (:Not shown in thedrawings.) The'devicef or carrying. the bed forward, to enable it to be griped between the cylinder at and e, is also left out in the drawings, these devices being-twell understood; and, tomake my improvements clear,- I hawe'shown only so much of a plate press" as will conduce to this result. I V i 'I In lugs c c on the frontend of the plate'-' block 0 is fitted the shaft t, the axis of which is at right angles to the direction of motion of the bed I), and on which are secured by setscrews the three finger-carriers j j and 1. To the carriers j j are fastened the two fingers j j bymeans of screws passing through slots formed in them, so that their free ends may be set in the right position on the plate f to adjust vertically the sheet of paper in relation to the design on the plate, the top edge of the sheet of paper coming in contact with them, and they are adjusted sidewise to adapt them to different-sized sheets of paper by shifting their carriers j j longitudinally along the shaft 13. The carrier 1 holds the finger l, which is slotted to allow of adjustment. It lies along the side of the plate f, and its end is bent at right angles to bear on the surface of the plate. It is also adjustable sidewise to the plate by longitudinal movement of its carrier l on the shaft t, and its end forms the side guide or stop for the left-hand side of the paper. These guide-fingers j j and l are l'nadeof thin metal, somewhat flexible, and are caused to be pressed firmly against the plate f by means of springbolts m m, let into the body of the plate-block c, and pressing against flat sides 0 0, formed on the collars n n on the shaft '5, or rather against the lower edges of these flat sides 0 0, as shown in Fig. 3, to allow for wear, and to insure the fingers keeping against the platef.

On one end of the shaft 6, projecting beyond the plate-block c, is secured the crank 19, so set thereon that when the D-cylinder a has griped the sheet of paper on the platef, as shown in the drawings, its pin comes in contact with the arm 4*, secured to the frame h, and as the bed continues to move under the D-cylinder a the shaft 6 is rotated, and the fingers are thereby moved off the plate f and into the position shown by the dotted lines 3 y in Fig. 1, (their planes of rotation being in line with the direction of motion of the bed I) admit of the side guide-finger, I, being placed as far as desired down the side of the paper, and all the fingers have plenty of time to avoid the impressioncylinder as the bed moves under it and as the fingers swing off the plate into position on the front end of the bed,) in which position they are held by the spring-bolts m m bearing against the flat sides 0 0 of the collars an, which are about diametrically opposite the fiat sides 0 o. Thefingers are again thrown overonto the plate by hand by means of the crank 19 after the bed has moved back into its original position, (which is somewhat to the left of its position as shown,) the printed sheet removed from the plate, and the plate inked and polished.

The arm 1' is constructed to be adjusted on the frame h, to cause the fingers to be moved off the plate at the right time to accommodate various sizes of engraved plates and sheets of paper; and when the variation of the size of paper is greater than the adjustment of the fingers j l on their carriers j 7' and I will accommodate, separate sets of fingers of varying lengths will be used.

My invention can be equally well applied to a press where the bed is stationary and the cylinder is made to roll over it.

Having now described my invention, I wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement and construction of the devices shown constituting a stop-guide attachment for plate-presses, as it is evident they maybe considerably modified without dcparting from the nature of my invention; but

What I claim, and desire to' secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a plate-printing press, of fingers constructed and operated to bear on the plate-block or engraved plate to act as guides, against which the top and one of the side edges of the sheet of paper are fed, and to be moved automatically from the block or plate when the bed is passing under theimpression-cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. In a plate-printing press, the combination of guides orregistering-fingers adapted to bear on the engraved plate or plate-block and to act as stops, against which the top and one of the side edges of the sheet of paper are fed and carried by a shaft fitted in bearin gs on the bed at right angles to the line of motion of the bed, with an adjustable device for actuating said shaft to throw the fingers off the plate over onto the front end of the bed as the bed is passing under the impression-cylinder, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. In a registeringguide attachment for plate-printing presses, in combination, fingers carried by a shaft fitted to turn inbearings on the bed of the machine at right angles to the line of motion of the bed, an adjustable arm secured to the frame of the press, in combination with a crank-arm on the end of the fingershaft and a springacting device constructed to hold the fingers down on the plate or plateblock,and also imposition when thrown off the same, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

4. In combination, the rotating impressioncylindera,thelongitudinally-movingbed-block c, the shaft 1', fitted in lugs 0 on the plate-block c at right angles to its direction of motion, the adjustable registering-fingers j j and Z, carried by the shaft t, the crank 19, secured to the end of the shaft 6, and the adjustable arm 1", secured to the side frame of the press, substantially as'and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

The shaft t, adjustable fingersjj and l, fiat-sided collars n n, spring-bolts m m, crank 19, and adjustable arm 'r, combined and constructed substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of August, A. D. 1880.

JNO. cARsoN,

Witnesses H. D. WILLIAMS, EDWARD G. OoMMERFoRn IIC 

